Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, July 15, 2006

[livvy]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News



All members welcomed and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[livvy]

1. DNC Demands...Recount in Race Marred by Diebold Machine "Sleepovers"

7/14/06, 3:49 pm EST
DNC Demands “Swift and Verifiable” Recount in Race Marred by Diebold Machine “Sleepovers”

First some context: A special election to replace criminal congressman Duke Cunningham in San Diego was held on June 6, between Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Francine Busby.

In the offical count, Bilbray won by several thousand votes. But in the aftermath of the election it has become evident that the election was run on machines that should have been decertified.

The district voted on Diebold optical scan machines that read Scantron-like fill-in-the-bubble ballots. The only problem? These machines have been shown to be easily hackable, meaning that the chain of custody of the machines is vitally important if ballot security is to be maintained.

However, in San Diego, election officials sent the machines home with poll workers to then take to the district’s polling places. Meaning that dozens of individuals had unfettered access to the machines for hours and days before the election. Some of the machines were even stored in the poll workers’ cars.

>more

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/?p=294

[livvy]

2. DNC Voting Rights Institute on CA-50 Special Election

DNC Voting Rights Institute on CA-50 Special Election

For several weeks since the June 6th Special Election in California’s 50th Congressional District there have been reports of election irregularities. The DNC Voting Rights Institute (“VRI”) has been monitoring the developments since Election Day and has raised a number of concerns regarding new and disturbing information.

First and foremost is the fact that any election where there are allegations of machine tampering, break downs in chain of custody, security breaches and other such irregularities must be taken seriously. There are several facts in this race that raise very deep concerns.

On the facts:

1. We know for a fact that San Diego County election officials have admitted that a number of the voting machines were taken home in violation of the federal security regulations and guidelines and that a number of the machines showed evidence of tampering (broken seals, which should also have immediately disqualified those machines from use according to state laws implemented in just the last several months in response to new severe vulnerabilities discovered Diebold's optical-scan and touch-screen voting systems.)

2. We know that under state and federal guidelines, any such breach of security seals or the new "secure storage" requirements for these machines and their memory cards should have immediately disqualified those machines from use in the election for the reason that they became effectively decertified for use upon such security and chain of custody violations.

>snip

This is no longer about whether or not Busby or Bilbray won the election on June 6th. This is about the importance of verifying the facts related to election and voting machine irregularities in this race and the need to ensure an accurate count of all votes cast in this election so that the electorate may have confidence in the announced results in future elections.

>more

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/07/dnc_voting_righ.php

[livvy]

3. Choicepoint to Diebold to CIA web page link-Posted by BeFree

Recommeded reading! Thanks, BeFree!

Choicepoint to Diebold to CIA web page link

Not only was Choicepoint a feature in this web page, but a very well done compilation of the whole she-bang was laid out, from backdoor firmware to defense department and CIA connections plugged into our voting machines.

http://www.ballotintegrity.org/DCForumID1/418.html

The Hidden Underbelly of Election Engineering -
Why We Cannot Entrust Our Sacred Republic to Automated Elections

<snip>

· Five former CIA Directors are identified as directly involved in election engineering, overtly or covertly: John Deutch, R. James Woolsey, Bobby Ray Inman, Robert Gates, and George H.W. Bush.

· Investigative journalist, Lynn Landes, reports that SAIC (Science Applications International Corp., sometimes also referred to as Scientific Applications International Corp.), of San Diego, California, is described as, “the shadow ruling class within the Pentagon,” and as a “behemoth military defense contractor with a shadowy, if not tarnished reputation,” which maintains strong business ties to the military and intelligence communities, such as the NSA and CIA. Many of SAIC’s board members are formerly with the Pentagon and CIA.

· Behemoth military contractor SAIC and ChoicePoint, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, have developed a strategic alliance, teaming up as partners in “data mining”.

Discussion thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x440298

[livvy]

4. VelvetRevolution: Calif. 50 Bilbray/Busby Registrar Mikel Hass Stonewalls

VelvetRevolution: Calif. 50 Bilbray/Busby Registrar Mikel Hass Stonewalls on Hand Count of Paper Ballots

7/14/2006 9:16:00 AM

To: State Desk

Contact: Ilene Proctor PR, 310-271-5857

SAN DIEGO, July 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On July 5, Barbara Gail Jacobson, a voter in California's 50th District requested a hand count of all paper ballots from the Busby/Bilbray election because of the failure of the San Diego Country Registrar to follow state and federal provisions requiring the security of the Diebold voting machines used in the special election. Specifically, poll workers took all the voting machines home in the two weeks prior to the election where they remained in unsecured environments.

On Tuesday, July 11, Jacobson delivered a letter to Registrar Mikel Haas asking questions about the manual hand count procedure -- (1) would he give her the chain of custody documents, audit logs and other related information that she had the right to review as "relevant materials," according to California law, (2) would he allow her to review them before she had to start paying for the count and (3) what were the results of the statutory 1 percent audit of the initial count? Haas had previously said in his July 7 letter to Jacobson that there would be a "pre-recount meeting" on Wednesday, July 12 at 8 a.m., and the "the recount will begin immediately after this meeting."

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 11, the assistant registrar, Tim McNamara, emailed Jacobson a vague and unresponsive answer to her questions. He said, "Please be aware that we are not necessarily in agreement with you regarding what constitutes relevant material. We can discuss that when we meet." In short, he demanded that Jacobson pay $6,000 to begin the count prior to the Registrar following the law.

On the morning of Wednesday, July 12, Jacobson was informed that the 8 a.m. pre-count meeting was cancelled and all other "interested parties" had been notified. However, Jacobson had not been notified. Jacobson again wrote Haas on July 13, citing major ambiguities in the Registrar's email, and asked whether the "manual hand count (has) ended ... (and if yes), why has it ended?"

>more

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=69225

[livvy]

5. WaPo: After Mexico's Election

After Mexico's Election
The United States Ought to Respond Better This Time

By Jorge Castañeda
Sunday, July 16, 2006; Page B07

Close elections are no big deal; they happen nearly everywhere and very often. If the close July 2 vote in Mexico, my country, seems surprising and confusing, it's simply because there have been very few real elections, close or otherwise. Most scholars would agree that in the country's entire history, at most four presidential votes would qualify by international standards: those of 1911, 1994 (sort of), Vicente Fox's in 2000 and now Felipe Calderón's.

Mexico has never been very adept at transferring power regularly, peacefully and democratically; indeed, one can argue that only during the past decade has the country even begun to do so. Thus it is quite logical that Mexico's political actors, institutions and media should be somewhat at a loss as to how to proceed in view of the result: The winner was declared by barely half a percentage point, and the loser's followers are experiencing serious difficulties in digesting what for them is a totally unexpected defeat.

Yet, despite the uncharted waters Mexico is navigating, three courses of action are clearly in order.

First, the established electoral procedures must be followed, sensibly and expeditiously, so that sincere doubts and questions are addressed but without having Mexico's still-precarious democracy irreparably damaged by one more instance of an aborted transfer of power. Accepting Andrés Manuel López Obrador's claim of fraudulent behavior by the nation's autonomous and trusted electoral authorities (particularly the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE) would be a non-starter; trying to reasonably accommodate his followers' desire for a partial and solidly grounded recount is not too much to ask.

>more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071401436.html

[livvy]

6. Fremont-area Residents Speak Out on Mexico's Controversial Election

Article Last Updated: 7/15/2006 03:42 AM

Fremont-area residents speak out on Mexico's controversial election
Some see need for recount, if only for transparency

By Linh Tat, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area

Sunday's mass demonstration in Mexico demanding a recount of ballots from the July 2 presidential election will take place about 1,850 miles south of the Fremont area, but many living or working locally will be watching intently as the events unfold.

Alameda County is home to an estimated 293,000 Latinos, some of whom are Mexican citizens with a vested interest in the political developments of their native country.

Take, for instance, Gabriel Leyva, a 36-year-old who moved his software consultant company from Mexico to the Bay Area eight years ago. His work will, in part, keep the Fremont businessman from traveling to Mexico City, but he supports the planned rally.

Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the election to conservative Felipe Calderon, a member of the ruling National Action Party, has called on his supporters to gather and pressure the government for a ballot-by-ballot recount.

>more

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_4056556

[livvy]

7. Lopez Obrador Refuses To Recognize Rival

WRAL.com
Lopez Obrador Refuses To Recognize Rival

POSTED: 7:28 am EDT July 15, 2006
UPDATED: 7:28 am EDT July 15, 2006

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's leftist presidential candidate promised Friday to stop calling protests if there is a recount of the vote but said he would never recognize his conservative rival as president.

"I am not going to recognize these elections as clean," Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

An official vote tally gave Felipe Calderon a 244,000-vote advantage. But the Federal Electoral Tribunal must decide on a slew of appeals by Aug. 31 and declare a president-elect by Sept. 6 _ a decision that cannot be appealed.

In a nearly 900-page legal challenge, Lopez Obrador claims widespread vote fraud and illicit government and corporate support for Calderon. He has called for a manual, ballot-by-ballot recount of the July 2 election.

>more

http://www.wral.com/apworldnews/9522523/detail.html

[livvy]

8. NM:Governor's CampaignCriticizes GOP Candidate For 'offensive stereotypes

Governor's campaign criticizes GOP candidate for 'offensive stereotypes'

By BARRY MASSEY | Associated Press
July 15, 2006

SANTA FE (AP) - Gov. Bill Richardson's re-election campaign on Friday criticized Republican candidate John Dendahl for "slapping offensive stereotypes on New Mexico Hispanics" in recent comments about drunken driving and immigration.

Dendahl said during a radio talk show earlier this week that lawmakers have failed to adequately deal with the problem of repeat drunken drivers because "the Legislature understands that statistically ... too many people who are repeat offenders happen to have Spanish last names."

He went on to say that lawmakers will not enact tougher legislation against repeat drunken driving offenders because they're concerned "that would be racist."

Dave Contarino, chairman of Richardson's re-election campaign, said, "Dendahl's obsession with slapping offensive stereotypes on New Mexico Hispanics should be a red flag to Republican voters."

>more

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/46455.html

[livvy]

9. MI:Presidential Primary Voting Change To Go Before Lawmakers

Article published Jul 15, 2006
Presidential primary voting change to go before lawmakers
Demos, GOP agree to make voters go public.

DAVID EGGERT
Associated Press Writer

LANSING -- The state Democratic and Republican parties have agreed to hold a 2008 presidential primary that would force voters to publicly choose between casting a ballot in the GOP or Democratic contests.

The deal was described Friday as a cross between an open primary in which voters can cast ballots for candidates from both parties and a closed system that requires voters to register with either party.

The "semi-open" primary would take place on the same day, assuming both sides could agree on a date. The proposal still needs the approval of the GOP-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and is designed to stop Democrats from voting in GOP primaries and Republicans from joining Democratic caucuses.

Michigan Republicans have blamed John McCain's victory over George W. Bush in their 2000 primary on Democrats who crossed over. Democrats have long had concerns about Republicans' influence on George Wallace's 1972 primary win in Michigan.

>more
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/News01/607150394/-1/NEWS01/CAT=News01

[livvy]

10. TN: Early Voting Takes Mere Minutes

Article published Jul 15, 2006

Early voting takes mere minutes
Hundreds show up for first day, need just five minutes to vote
By NATE KARLIN
The Leaf-Chronicle

Tim Lewis had a hunch the new voting machines might take a bit longer.

He lined up five minutes before the doors opened Friday morning, the first day of early voting. To his surprise, he was done in a matter of minutes.

"It wasn't too bad," Lewis said. "It seemed like the new machines work better than last year."

>snip

She said the first day was error free — no electronic malfunctions and no complaints about the new machines. She clocked voters averaging four to five minutes to complete the 13-page ballot.

>more


http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/NEWS01/607150310/1002

[Joanne98]

30. Americans are dying of stupidity

[livvy]

11. OH:Blackwell Decision-Candidate Kept Off Ballot Over GOP Ties

BLACKWELL DECISION
Candidate kept off ballot over GOP ties

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Robert Vitale and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A former Republican primary challenger can’t run against U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce as an independent candidate this fall, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell ruled yesterday.

Charles R. Morrison II, a conservative businessman who Republicans feared would steer votes away from Pryce in an already tight race against Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy, doesn’t meet Ohio’s requirements for independents because of his GOP ties, Blackwell said.

Blackwell’s ruling broke a party-line tie last month among the four members of the Franklin County Board of Elections. Republican leaders from Franklin, Madison and Union counties had asked the board to declare Morrison ineligible as an independent candidate because of his links to the GOP.

Blackwell’s ruling runs counter to one that he benefited from in 1984 when he was a candidate for Congress. He filed that year to run as a Republican, even though he voted as a Democrat in the 1980 primary election.

>more

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/07/15/20060715-E1-03.html

[livvy]

12. Groups File Suit Challenging Electronic Voting in Georgia

Article published Jul 14, 2006
Groups file suit challenging electronic voting in Georgia

Atlanta | Just days before Georgia's primary elections, a coalition of groups opposed to the state's electronic voting machines filed a lawsuit challenging the system.

The legal challenge, filed Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court, claims the system is illegal and unconstitutional because it fails to give voters a verifiable record showing their ballot was recorded correctly.

Georgia implemented the new system in 2002.
"If I had some evil intent and I wanted to disenfranchise an entire state, what better job could I do than what happened in 2002?" said Garland Favorito, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and co-founder of VoterGA, the coalition that filed the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes one day after a federal judge blocked Georgia from using a new law that would require voters to show a picture ID in next week's primaries and the Nov. 7 general election.

>more

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/NEWS/607140320/-1/State

[livvy]

13. FL: U.S. Panel Probes Voting Machine Firm

Posted on Sat, Jul. 15, 2006

FOREIGN INVESTMENT
U.S. panel probes voting machine firm

A federal panel is looking at a South Florida firm that owns an electronic voting machines provider after concerns surfaced that it could be a tool of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The company denied the allegation.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
[e-mail]

A U.S. Treasury-led panel that investigates whether U.S. companies with ties to foreign investors compromise national security has contacted the Boca Raton parent company of a voting machine supplier whose top executives once had links to the Venezuelan government.

The company, Smartmatic, last year acquired Sequoia Voting Systems, a well-known supplier of electronic voting equipment in 16 states. Palm Beach and Hillsborough counties are among those that use Sequoia's electronic voting machines. Smartmatic was a partner in a consortium that supplied electronic voting machines used in the controversial referendum President Hugo Chávez won in 2004.

Sequoia has come under fire in Chicago, where glitches in voting tabulations in a recent election, coupled by the company's admission that its technology support staff is comprised of Venezuelan nationals, raised concern among some city council members who grilled the company's president, Jack Blaine.

''The history of the company that was hired to run this election is no stranger to scandal, not the least of which involves its ties to Venezuela and the claims of its partnership with political corruption in that country,'' said Alderman Edward Burke at an April 7 Chicago City Council meeting where Blaine was questioned.

>more

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15045146.htm

[livvy]

29. Discussion Thread started by eomer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x440401

[livvy]

14. FL Editorial: Paper Trail a Must

Editorial
Paper trail a must
• Florida should join 27 other states and require that electronic votes be backed up by tangible proof.

Originally posted on July 15, 2006

The beauty of electronic voting machines such as the touch-screen devices in Lee County is that they are easy for voters to use and double-check, and make for quick, reliable vote-counting.

But if they have no paper copies of the ballot printed out for each voter to verify, a reliable recount independent of the machines is impossible. Florida still doesn’t require such receipts. It should join the 27 states that have added this basic, common-sense backup to their electronic voting systems.

Urge our state officials to act, although it’s unlikely to happen in time for this year’s elections — unlikely because the Legislature has simply not taken this matter seriously. If it did, the legislation and certification could be handled quite quickly.

They must not let them wander into the 2008 presidential election year without the “paper trail” in place.

>more

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/OPINION/60714047/1015

[livvy]

15. Computerized Voting Facing Criticism

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Computerized voting facing criticism
By Deborah Hastings
Associated Press


Computerized voting was supposed to be the cure for ballot fiascos such as the 2000 presidential election, but activist groups say it has only worsened the problem and they've gone to court across the country to ban the new machines.

Lawsuits have been filed in at least nine states, alleging that the machines are wide open to computer hackers and prone to temperamental fits of technology that have assigned votes to the wrong candidate.

Manufacturers say their machines are more reliable than punch cards and other traditional voting technologies.

But they face a determined opponent in Voter Action, which has filed lawsuits in Colorado, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Similar bans have been sought by voters in Texas, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. On Thursday, a coalition of groups filed a lawsuit in Georgia.

>more

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/NEWS01/607150352

[livvy]

16. WV: Berkeley Co. Officials Vote For Touch-screen Machines

The Herald-Mail ONLINE
http://www.herald-mail.com/

Friday July 14, 2006
Berkeley Co. officials vote for touch-screen machines

by MATTHEW UMSTEAD
[e-mail]

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - When Berkeley County residents go to the polls to vote in 2008, there is a real possibility they won't have a ballot box to contend with and fewer poll workers will be needed to tally the results at the end of the night.

Acting on information compiled by Berkeley County Clerk John W. Small Jr. and Voters Registration supervisor Bonnie Woodfall, county commissioners Thursday decided to apply for state money to purchase 155 Ivotronic "touch screen" voting machines, which Small and Woodfall said will virtually eliminate the need for paper ballots on Election Day. The purchase would bring the total number of Ivotronic machines to 220.

At a cost of $3,100 per machine, Small said in a letter to Commission President Howard L. Strauss that each of the county's 65 precincts could be outfitted with at least two machines for $403,000. Instead, the Commission opted to go one step further and apply for $480,500 to buy additional machines for more populated precincts in an effort to use only one voting system on election days in 2008. The machines would be purchased with money from a revolving, no-interest loan program facilitated by West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland's office.

For the general election in November and with any special votes to be staged in 2007, voters again will have the option to fill in ovals on a paper ballot that is optically scanned. A software glitch on primary election night caused a delay in optical scanning, but the Ivotronic and early votes were tallied within an hour, officials said.

>more

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=142541&format=html

[livvy]

17. NY: A Key Victory For New York Election Integrity Activists

A Key Victory For New York Election Integrity Activists

By Bo Lipari, New Yorkers for Verified Voting
July 14, 2006

In a key win for New York State verifiable voting advocates, four companies have submitted precinct ballot scanners for certification testing.

For years voting machine vendors have tried to keep ballot scanners unavailable to New York. A comment in 2004 to Assembly woman Sandy Galef from the president of ES&S - "New York is a DRE state" shows the presumption that electronic touch screen voting was to be the only alternative for New Yorkers.

But ongoing advocacy by citizens calling for paper ballot systems forced voting machine vendors to begin demonstrating paper ballot scanners in New York. But until this week, there was no guarantee that any vendor would actually submit a scanner system for certification. If no vendor submitted a system, there would be no paper based system available for counties to choose as an alternative to DREs.

But yesterday, the State Board of Elections announced that four vendors had submitted precinct based ballot scanners for certification testing. The growing citizen demand for adoption of paper ballot systems has won another key victory, and an essential step in the battle for paper ballots.

>more

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1506&Itemid=113

[livvy]

18. Colorado Response To HAVA Complaint Is Unfair and Incomplete

Colorado Response To HAVA Complaint Is Unfair and Incomplete

By Al Lolwicz, CAMBER
July 14, 2006

Colorado Secretary of State has published her HAVA complaint finding and Al Kolwicz, the person who filed the complaint, has objected to the report.


The July 10, 2006 determination regarding HAVA complaint SOS-HAVA-01-06-0001 is unfair and incomplete. The conclusions reached are not supported by the facts. I do not accept this determination.


1. According to the report, both administration and public testimony agree that both of the charges made in the complaint are true. Yet, the report fails to recommend that the law be enforced.

a. There is no disagreement that when a ballot is marked on a continuous roll, it is “marked in any way whereby the ballot can be identified as the ballot of the person casting it.” Instead of recommending enforcement of the law, the report argues why it is OK to use unconstitutional ballots.

b. There is no disagreement that a blind voter cannot verify that their votes are correctly printed before they are cast. Instead of recommending enforcement of the law, the report argues that blind voters do not need the protections offered by the law.




2. The report is incomplete. It is missing the responses to key complaint assertions. It is also missing key documents and responses to them.

>more

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1505&Itemid=113

[livvy]

19. MO: Slow Delivery Complicates Election Preparation

Slow delivery complicates election preparation

By JACOB LUECKE of the Tribune’s staff
Published Friday, July 14, 2006

The Omaha, Neb., company supplying Boone County with new voting machines says all the new devices will be delivered in time for next month’s election.

The problem is the county’s elections chief expected to have the devices in hand nearly a month ago, meaning her office is in a serious crunch to get workers up to speed on the new equipment by Aug. 8.

"I’m condensing three weeks of training into eight days," Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren said.

By last week, the county had received all of the new electronic ballot counters from the vendor, Election Systems and Software Inc. of Omaha.

>more

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2006/Jul/20060714News001.asp

[livvy]

20. Rokita Installed as National Association's President-Elect

Rokita Installed as National Association's President-Elect

InsideIndianaBusiness.com Report

7/14/2006 5:56:52 AM
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita has been installed as the president-elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Rokita is scheduled to begin his term in 2007. Rokita is currently the organization's treasurer.

Source: Inside Indiana Business

Press Release

Santa Fe, NM - This week, Secretary of State Todd Rokita is meeting with fellow secretaries of state from around the country at their national association's summer conference in Santa Fe, NM. Wednesday, Rokita, who currently serves as Treasurer for the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), was installed as President-Elect of the organization and is slated to begin his term in 2007. Rokita and his peers are taking part in discussions addressing a variety of issues ranging from election administration challenges to new online business services initiatives.

"We are fortunate to have a national leader like Secretary Rokita take the helm of our organization throughout the 2008 presidential election," said Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson. "I am pleased to have Kentucky's friend and neighbor, Todd Rokita, bring his progressive and forward-thinking reforms to the top of our national association."

Wednesday, Rokita also shared Indiana's April mock election test of its new statewide voter file system. Federal election officials in Washington, DC have singled out Indiana's mock election as a national model. "Having had such a successful test of our voter file prior to the May Primary, other states have inquired as to how we accomplished this," Rokita said. "Indiana had much to share with the rest of the country on how we got such a large number of counties to participate and what the process itself was like."

Monday, Rokita presented his office's partnership with county officials and a non-profit organization to send old voting equipment to the emerging democracy of Benin in West Africa. "Sharing this voting technology will create the confidence of people in the democratic system that will eventually lead to economic development within Benin," Rokita said. "Today we may only be sending voting machines abroad, but tomorrow these efforts may lead to the development of business relationships with a strong, democratic Benin and the creation of more jobs here at home."

>more

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=18768

[livvy]

21. TN:Glitches WithNew Machines Cause Rocky Start To Early Voting(2 articles)

Friday, 07/14/06
Glitches with new machines cause rocky start to early voting

By Charles Booth
Staff Writer

FRANKLIN — Early voting got off to a rough start today with the Williamson County Election Commission experiencing problems with its new iVotronic touch screen voting system.

Polly Wright, with the county’s election registrar’s office, said there were problems with the machines’ PEB cartridges, which load the ballots into the machines.

“They’re voting by paper ballot this morning until our PEBs come in,” she said.

Hopefully by this afternoon the new cartridges will be in place, allowing voters to use the new machines.

For details, see tomorrow’s Local News section. (posted below link)

http://www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/COUNTY090101/60714006

Saturday, 07/15/06
Early voters adapt to new machines
Williamson has to use backup paper ballots

By ANNE PAINE
and JILL CECIL WIERSMA
Staff Writers

Early voters entered a new realm of computerized voting in many counties Friday, while those in Williamson County took a step backward.

Williamson residents cast their votes the old-fashioned way — with paper ballots.

The fallback was required when Election Systems & Software failed to provide correct programming for the county's new iVotronic voting machines, according to Brook Thompson, state election coordinator.

The problem, one safe-voting groups have warned about as new voting machines are adopted nationwide, is expected to be corrected by Monday.

In the meantime, lines backed up in several counties, Thompson said, where voters faced some of the longest ballots ever on top of machines that vary from county to county.

>more

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/NEWS0206/607150344

[livvy]

22. AR: Candidate Concerned About Voting Issues

Candidate concerned about voting issues
Friday, July 14, 2006 11:28 AM CDT

By TERRI RICHARDSON
Texarkana Gazette

Jim Lagrone, the Republican candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State, was in Texarkana Thursday talking about issues he believes are important to Arkansas.

One of Lagrone’s major concerns is voting reform. He has concerns about the problems found in the primaries and runoff elections.

“I just want fair and balanced elections, when you cast your ballot on a computer screen or on paper, you should be able to trust that it will be counted fairly,” said Lagrone.

Lagrone’s concerns go beyond the issues that arose in the primaries. He is also concerned with the counting of absentee ballots sent to soldiers and the number of fraudulent votes cast due to problems with voter registration software.

>more

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2006/07/14/local_news/news/news18.txt

[robinlynne]

31. how refreshing it is when republicans care about honest elections.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. something else that you won't believe

That GOP guy running for SOS also wants to make ballot access
for third parties easier.

The current SOS of Arkansas isn't looking good.
Thanks to Charlie Daniels (his real name!), several counties were
grandfathered in as paperless when Arkansas passed their VVPB
law.

Additionally, Daniels wants to make the state 100% touchscreens.
Word is he hired his son to assist in developing the states
HAVA plan.

This state is in great need of proper management for its elections.
They have always been a disaster.

[livvy]

23. Brad Blog: First RFK Jr. Voting Machine Whistleblower Lawsuit Now Filed...

FIRST RFK JR. VOTING MACHINE WHISTLEBLOWER LAWSUIT NOW FILED IN FEDERAL COURT! NEW DETAILS!

Attorney Papantonio on Mike Malloy Show: 'We're gonna shut down some of these companies'!

Excoriates 'Indolent Democrats' and 'Lazy Media' for Not Taking Action; Lauds BRAD BLOG for Putting Issue on 'Radar Screen'…

Posted By Brad On 13th July 2006 @ 11:15 In Election Irregularities, RFK Jr., BRAD BLOG, Election Reform | 74 Comments

<1>The first of several federal whistleblower qui tam (fraud) suits have now been filed against one of America's major electronic voting machine companies, The BRAD BLOG <2> can now report.

Florida attorney Mike Papantonio who, along with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. hosts Ring of Fire <3>, weekends on Air America Radio <4>, was a guest on Mike Malloy's radio program last night. He discussed the upcoming whistleblower suits that he and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are filing against several of the voting machine companies. Pap was loaded for bear.

During the interview, he gave several new details on the federal fraud suits now being filed, which include several whistleblower plaintiffs whose stories were originally reported here at The BRAD BLOG <2>, as mentioned last week in a quick item here <6>, with some fresh details of our own. Pap reported last night that the "dream team of lawyers" they've assembled to take on these evil, irresponsible, anti-American companies includes a bunch of those who took on the tobacco companies in a successful quarter billion dollar suit — so they're not likely easily intimidated, we'd think.

Papantonio is a senior partner at Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Echsner & Proctor, P.A., a Pensacola lawfirm. (website here <7>) RFK Jr. is also "of counsel" for this firm.

>more including link to Malloy interview

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3065

edit: I just finished listening to the interview and recommend you do also if you haven't. Good listening and nice update to the suit.

[livvy]

24. Voting Rights Act Passes in House Despite Conservative Opposition

July 14, 2006

Voting Rights Act Passes in House Despite Conservative Opposition

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

The House overwhelmingly approved an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for another 25 years in a 390-33 vote yesterday evening. The renewal must get Senate and presidential approval before the Act expires next year.

The bipartisan bill, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) along with 152 cosponsors, was initially expected to pass without difficulty, but conservative Republicans raised complaints about many aspects of the renewal.

Republicans introduced four amendments to lower voter protections, including one which would have shortened the renewal period to a decade and another which would have allowed many states to print ballots only in English.

"While the bill ultimately passed by a wide margin, amendments that would have gutted the Act were supported by a majority of the House Republicans," Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, told BuzzFlash.com. "The path taken by the House in reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act was illustrative of the challenges facing the country on issues of racial and economic justice."

>more including roll calls of votes for: (at very bottom)
- Full bill
- Amendment shortening the renewal to 10 years
- Amendment against multilingual ballots(at very bottom)

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/06/07/ale06088.html

[livvy]

25. CA: Miller Borrowed $7.5M To Buy Contributor's Land

Miller borrowed $7.5M to buy contributor’s land
By Susan Crabtree

Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) took out nearly $7.5 million in promissory notes in 2004 from his top campaign contributor and business partner, Lewis Operating Corp., which he used to purchase real estate from the company.

He then sold some of the land to a Southern California city and some back to the contributor, according to property records, information in financial disclosure documents and responses from his spokesman.

In 2005, he made $1.1 million-$6 million in real-estate deals that involved Lewis Operating in some part of the transaction, according to his financial disclosure report.

Miller’s relationship with Lewis Operating dates back more than three decades to his years as a developer of planned communities. Miller, now 57, founded G. Miller Development Co. in his early 20s, well before coming to Congress in 1998; he remains president of the company.

>more

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/071306/news2.html

[livvy]

26. Santorum Struggles for Support at Home

Santorum struggles for support at home

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 15, 4:23 AM ET

PITTSBURGH - Phyllis Sharkady has voted twice for the local boy who made good, Republican Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record). Not this year.

"I'm willing to go for change — big time," said Sharkady, 59, a Hewlett-Packard retiree from Shaler Township, Pa., who admits she knows little about Santorum's Democratic challenger. "You need somebody without the so-called baggage."

Santorum's rise in the Republican ranks has been speedy, from state chairman of the College Republicans during his days at Penn State to congressman to No. 3 in the Senate GOP leadership. An unabashed conservative, he has been something of a political misfit in Pennsylvania, which backed Democrats
Al Gore in 2000 and
John Kerry in 2004.

This election year, Santorum, 48, is widely regarded as the most vulnerable incumbent. By double digits, polls show him trailing rival Bob Casey, the state treasurer, namesake son of a popular governor and a conservative Democrat.

>more

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060715/ap_on_el_se/santorum_s_hometown_crowd;_ylt=AlMDLd.XOKWtyV9eafJjr6.yFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

[livvy]

27. WaPo: For Democrats, Wave Is Building (opinion)

For Democrats, Wave Is Building

By Thomas E. Mann
Sunday, July 16, 2006; Page B01

There's probably no way congressional Republicans can lose this fall, no matter how unpopular President Bush is or how unhappy the voters are with the war in Iraq. That's the prevailing view in Washington today.

But it's wrong.

If history is any guide, we're heading into a major political storm. And that means we could see a national tide in November that will sweep the Democrats back into the majority.

Virtually every public opinion measure points to a Category 4 or 5 hurricane gathering. Bush's job-approval rating is below 40 percent, and congressional job approval is more than 10 percentage points lower. Only a quarter of the electorate thinks the country is moving in the right direction, and voters are unhappy with the economy under Bush. Finally, Democrats hold a double-digit lead as the party the public trusts to do a better job of tackling the nation's problems and the party it would like to see controlling Congress.

>more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071401391.html

[livvy]

28. Discussion Thread started by rndmprsn

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1639915

[EFerrari]

32. Thanks so much livvy.

:kick:

[Wilms]

34. Great thread, Livvy.